Forgotten Realms MisMash
by Jade-Max
Summary: A Collection of stand alone Vignettes written in the Forgotten Realms universe. Mostly centering on Drizzt & Catti-brie from RA Salvatore's Dark Elf Series - though other characters make the odd appearance.
1. Memories

**Disclaimer:** It's Wizards of the Coast and R.A Salvatore's sandbox, I'm simply destroying the sandcastles

**Title:** Memories

**Author:** Jade-Max

**Characters:** Drizzt Do'Urden, Catti-brie & Guenhwyvar

**Genre:** Mush/Romance

**Timeframe:** Takes place after "_The Pirate King_" but before "_The Ghost King_", and reflects back to (non-canon) events after Wulfgar's 'demise' but before his return.

**Summary:** Now married, Drizzt & Catti-brie reflect on a moment of their past not unlike the ones they now share...

**Note:** Haven't officially played with this couple yet, but I have to say I was never as delighted with a pairing as I was with this one when it _officially_ became canon; enjoy!

**If you're looking for an action fic - this isn't it.**

**----------**

**Memories**

_"Guen!"_

Swatting at the drow with one massive paw, Guenhwyvar sailed over his head to land gracefully on a nearby outcropping, the haunch that had just moments before been in his hand, now swinging in her mouth. She turned, regarding the elf who held her magical figurine - the finest Master she'd ever had - with intelligent eyes that seemed to dare him to make her.

"You know as well as I do you're not going to eat our dinner," Drizzt crossed his hands over his chest and regarded his feline companion with exasperation. "Give it back."

"You won't win," laughed the red-haired woman poking at the fire of their campsite several yards behind Drizzt. "It's been too long since you called her to play."

"I'd _hoped_," Drizzt tossed back without glancing over his shoulder, his eyes never leaving the panther "to have some time alone with my wife."

Catti-brie's throaty, full laugh was nearer as she approached from behind. "It's been too long since it was just the three of us; right Guen?"

The panther sat, dropping the haunch delicately on her front paws, to ensure it wasn't dirtied, and growled as if agreeing with the human.

"See?"

Drizzt wisely held his tongue about stubborn females as his wife coaxed Guenhwyvar from her ledge and recovered their dinner. He waited for Catti-brie to leave he and Guen to place their meal over the fire - and lunged at the cat as Catti-brie moved beyond range.

Guenhwyvar moved in the same instant he did, turning to accept the hit, and rolling to take them both to the ground.

Playful bites and swats of her paws were accompanied with growls and laughter as they wrestled. Rolling, spinning and scrambling, Drizzt realized the truth in his wife's words as he played with the panther. Except Guen wasn't the only one who'd missed their play sessions; had his life truly become that busy he couldn't take time to spend with his friends? No matter; it was something he'd rectify this trip back to Mithral Hall. The great cat eventually pinned him, running her rough tongue across the side of his face affectionately, and Drizzt conceded as he made to push her off.

"I never thought I'd see the day when I was jealous of you and Guen."

Both black faces turned Catti-brie's way at her amused observation, Guenhwyvar's ears perked forward attentively.

"Cat?"

Her tease was delivered almost deadpan. "You never play with _me_ like that anymore; why shouldn't I be jealous?"

Not one hundred percent certain if she was speaking about him or the cat, Drizzt started to reply - but Guenhwyvar beat him to it. Leaping away, she made to swat Catti-brie with the swipe of her great paws. Still on the ground, Drizzt pushed himself up on one elbow to watch Guenhwyvar include his wife in their play, the cat turning Catti-brie his way with bats of her paws and a shove of her head. Stumbling and overbalanced by the great cat's ploy, Catti-brie didn't even try to do more than direct her momentum his way.

Seeing she would fall short, Drizzt dropped to his back and rolled - and was promptly smothered in laughing woman. Not to be left out, Guenhwyvar leapt back to their side and pushed, catching Drizzt under the arm and sending the couple rolling along the ground. After three turns, Drizzt dug his elbows in to halt their momentum and they came to a stop with Catti-brie pinned beneath him.

"Thank you, Guen," they were both laughing and turned to look at a very satisfied looking Guenhwyvar, licking her paws as she stretched out on her chosen patch of dirt, before meeting each other's gazes again. "Do you remember the last time she did that?"

"Remember?" Catti-brie's eyes practically sparkled in the light of the setting sun. "How could I forget?"

The memory sprang to life between them - a night not unlike this one, but several years before, when it had been just the two of them and Guenhwyvar...

----------

_Several Years Earlier_

It had been the end of a long day's trek while off ship. Enjoying some downtime from Deudermont's _Sea Sprite_, Drizzt and Catti-brie had decided to make the journey to their next rendezvous on foot and on their own. After so many years at sea together, blending their tactics, they felt the most at home when alone - with Guenhwyvar.

Their routine had been set over the course of several days - it would take a week to walk to their destination - and this night was no different. Guenhwyvar had yet to be called as the duo settled in at camp, Drizzt setting out their bedrolls as Catti-brie took her turn at dinner.

As often happened when alone, silence descended between them, but this night had felt different. Sorrow no longer gripped them; years had given them time to heal and Wulfgar's death had faded from a raw pain into an ache that neither would ever escape. But, tonight, that ache seemed lessened for the company.

"Ye should call the cat," Catti-brie told Drizzt bluntly, as she finished disposing of the last of their meals. "T'would be a shame to let her miss an evenin' such as this."

"Is my company not enough?"

Laughing, the red-haired woman shook her head. "Fine company it is, me friend, but we've not seen Guen for over a week. Surely she misses us as much as we do her."

Conceding the point, Drizzt's lips kicked into a faint smile. "A finer companion I've never had," he agreed softly, "You seem... at peace tonight."

"I am," the smile she flashed his way lacked any form of shadow for the first time since Wulfgar's death. "And it is yer company that makes it so."

It was as close as either of them had ever come to admitting the bond that had grown between them; feelings better left unsaid due to the chasm of differences that kept them apart. Gazes locked, blue meeting lavender, and Drizzt couldn't help but wondering what she saw in his unguarded gaze - for that's what it was. Since Wulfgar's sacrifice, and setting out on their own, they'd held no secret from one another.

No _unspoken_ secrets.

There were simply some things that were better to remain unsaid. Shifting and breaking the eye contact, Catti-brie reiterated her previous request. "Call Guen, me friend; she has been too long alone."

Grateful for the distraction, Drizzt fished the small statuette from one pocket - and paused, turning it over in his hands. "Since you're so adamant for her company, perhaps you should give the call."

Cattie-brie arched her eyebrows at the soft offer; it wouldn't be the first - or the last, she suspected - time she called for the great cat, but Drizzt normally preferred to do so himself. It was but another measure of his feelings for her; his willingness to share every aspect of himself and his friendships with her and her alone. Plucking the statuette from his outstretched hand, she placed it on the ground and knelt beside it.

"Guenhwyvar," she called to the panther softly, conscious of Drizzt's gaze on her, and kept her tone moderated and laid back; Guen would hear it and know she wasn't summoned for battle, but for companionship.

The black mist that accompanied Guenhwyvar's transition to the material plane formed almost immediately and Catti-brie backed away to give her room. Far faster than was expected, the mist solidified into the form of the sleek panther, her massive head swinging from side to side as she took in her surroundings. Despite the call having come from Catti-brie, Guenhwyvar's loped over to Drizzt and placed a paw on either of his shoulders, growling.

Drizzt, accustom to such affection from his panther friend laughed and hugged her even as he was knocked backwards off his perch and went down under her six hundred pound weight. It was not an uncommon greeting when Guenhwyvar had spent many days, weeks even, out of his company. Guenhwyvar's growls of approval were accompanied by a solid lick across his face before Catti-brie's indignant voice carried to them both.

"Ungrateful cat - I summoned ye and ye can't so much as hug me for it?"

Giving Guenhwyvar a push, Drizzt pulled out from under her as her head turned towards the human. "She has a point, Guen - not that I don't appreciate it!"

In response, Guenhwyvar pounced on the human woman and drove her, laughing, to the ground. It was several long minutes before Catti-brie was let up to find Drizzt had dropped to his knees beside Guenhwyvar to pull her away - and to give the panther a huge hug-scratch across her silky coat. Catti-brie added her strokes to Drizzt's and then latched onto Guenhwyvar, giving her a huge hug, happy to see the panther after so long of an absence.

Guenhwyvar accepted the caresses and stroking, licking hands and bumping against their legs, nearly knocking Catti-brie to her backside. Catti-brie's eyes locked with Drizzt's across the back of the panther and she caught his hand in mid-stroke. Looking from one to the other, Guenhwyvar sensed the tension between the two and then, with Catti-brie leaning against her, bounded away only to send a startled Catti-brie tumbling into Drizzt's grasp.

A yelp of surprise was all the warning Drizzt got as he reflexively caught her and made to help her straighten - but Guenhwyvar, knowing Drizzt's heart better than even Catti-brie, knocked into them again, sending them both sprawling.

"Guenhwyvar!"

Even while issuing the sharp reprimand, Drizzt rolled only to come to a sharp stop as his side hit a nearby boulder - leaving Catti-brie sprawled beneath him. Looking down at Catti-brie and realizing they were a tangle of legs, half across his and her sleeping rolls, color she couldn't see bloomed on his cheek bones. Despite the fantasy or two - or three or four - he'd allowed himself about being tangled with this woman, this wasn't exactly how he'd envisioned it.

"Sorry," the drow said apologetically, making to move away.

"Sorry - what for? T'was Guen, not you."

Her words ended his shifting, drawing their gazes back together, and something he didn't dare identify flickered to life in hers. Those blue eyes drifted down, across his face to linger on his lips and he had a sudden - and almost overwhelming urge to answer the invitation that was clear in the gaze that lifted back to his. Only when he realized his head was moving towards hers did he snap back into the situation and roll away.

They came apart only partially as Drizzt laid on his back, staring at the stars.

Catti-brie, to his surprise, rolled into the curve of his extended arm and followed his gaze. "What do you see?"

"What I always see," he returned, looking down to smile at her. The tension wasn't gone, the situation too raw for that, but Catti-brie's words helped diffuse it a great deal. It was the question of one friend to another; of familiarity and peace... a question that he answered looking _at_ her because she was the reason it was so. "Home."

--------------

_Present Day_

In the heartbeat it took for the memory to surface, Cattie-brie's coy response drew them back to the present. "It's almost one of my fondest memories."

"Almost?"

"Well, it would have been better if you'd kissed me then... instead of waiting for _years_ until we each thought the other dead only to be proved otherwise."

Drizzt dipped his forehead to touch hers. "You know why I didn't."

"Aye." Her hands lifted, sliding between them to cup his face. "I do. That didn't stop me from wishing for it, though."

Their lips brushed briefly before Drizzt levered himself with his arms - taking her with him - to regain his feet. Catti-brie didn't relinquish her hold - except to shift it around his neck - knowing his wiry frame hid the true measure of his strength.

"Durned elf," she teased softly, quoting her father and slipping back into the dwarven accent she knew so well as she was swung back towards the vertical. "Ye call that a kiss?"

He opened his mouth to protest, but the words never came as Catti-brie kissed him soundly. His grip on her tightened and only vaguely was she aware of finding her feet solidly back underneath her once more. Once there, she pulled away and winked at Guenhwyvar over his shoulder. The cat regarded Catti-brie for a moment before pushing back to her feet - and springing off into the darkness.

Watching the silent by-play from the pleasant angle of having his wife in his arms, Drizzt couldn't help but question the intention behind that look as he glanced back to where Guenhwyvar had been sitting. "What was that about?"

"Guen and I understand each other." Stepping back, Catti-brie brushed the leaves and dirt from her clothes, shaking a hand through her hair to rid it of the ground it had picked up in their tumble. Not that she normally minded the grime of the trail, and now was no different, but that didn't mean she had to wallow in it. "Surely that's no surprise."

"No - but why does that frighten me now?"

"It can't frighten you more than my cooking."

"Not anymore; you've improved since being with Alustriel."

"Magic has many uses." She turned a coy look his way and murmured something softly before pointing a finger at him. There was an audible _click_ as snaps, buckles and various other fasteners on his person let go - and he barely caught his sword belt before it dropped from his hips.

"Catti-brie!"

Her laughter as she turned back towards the fire - and their meal - held a challenge. Quickly refastening his belt, Drizzt followed his wife back to the glow of their campfire as she removed the meat from the flames to cool. "You've some new tricks."

"Ones you should be guarded against."

"Under normal circumstances I am," catching her from behind her stopped her forward momentum with a hug, his hands snaking under the hem of her colorful shirt and splaying against the bare skin of her abdomen. "But that's not a trick I expected from _you_."

"And one you shouldn't," she agreed playfully. "I don't intend to make a habit of needing to remind you we're out here all alone... without interruptions... just you and-."

Drizzt silenced her with a kiss. One of his hands slipped up to catch her face and hold her in place - which proved unnecessary as she turned into his embrace. The hand still at her waist slid up her back under her shirt, across firmly muscled flesh as her hands delved between them - and his sword belt dropped once more.

Beyond the firelight, Guenhwyvar surveyed the area with a low growl before darting in and stealing the now cooled haunch to join her in the darkness. Neither Drizzt, nor Catti-brie, noticed - nor cared - that their dinner had grown legs to walk away; morning would be soon enough for food.

Much later, beneath the blanket of stars untouched by the already set moon, Drizzt ran his fingers through Catti-brie's hair where it was spread across his bare chest and reflected on everything that had brought them to this moment; in particular that long ago night where Guenhwyvar had forced both of them to see something neither of them had wanted to - but needed to. Not that he'd been unaware of his feelings for Catti-brie before; he simply hadn't dared dream that anything could become of them. All the more reason to savor what they now had and not dwell on what might have been.

"Drizzt?"

He traced his fingers lightly up her spine in response, knowing she knew he was awake.

"Do you really remember that night?"

Catti-brie's soft question was subdued, as if she doubted his previous recollection - or perhaps her own. There was no need to question what she was asking of him or why.

"How could I forget?" His soft reply didn't carry beyond her ears as he placed a soft kiss on her temple. "It was the first night you fell asleep in my arms."

"It was not."

"Without the specter of Wulfgar between us, Cat; yes it was." He tilted her chin so he could see her eyes; so he could see that same look he'd seen on that night so many years ago for the first time. "That was the first night you gave me hope that some day... that _today_ was possible."

"Then I change me answer," she told him, smiling. "It _is_ one of my favorite memories - for it eventually brought me you."

_fin_


	2. Mielikki's Grove

**Disclaimer:** It's Wizards of the Coast and R.A Salvatore's sandbox, I'm simply destroying the sandcastles

**Title:** Mielikki's Grove

**Author:** Jade-Max

**Genre:** Drama, Angst

**Timeframe:** Alternate Universe - but somewhere post _The Pirate King_

**Summary: ** Catti-brie arrives in Mielikki's grove and is welcomed by an unexpected inhabitant...

**Mielikki's Grove**

A sweet smelling breeze woke her, the unexpected shift from what had once been to what now was, snapping her eyes open with pre-natural awareness. The grass beneath her back was soft, supple, but the caring hands of her husband were markedly absent; and she had been _certain_ it was his arms she'd last felt about her - she'd have known them anywhere.

"Drizzt?"

No answer was forthcoming and she pushed herself up on her elbows, noting that the overwhelming pain of her injuries seemed to have vanished - as had her robes, spell components, armor, bow and quiver. Instead, she was clad in brown leggings and a green shift, flattering colors on her any day of the week, with supple kid slippers in place of her boots. .

She frowned, pushing to her feet and looked around the grove.

"Welcome."

Spinning towards the but musical tones, her hands dropped instinctively to her hip searching for sword or pouch, but came up empty.

Laughter, soft and low - and obviously male - flowed around her. "T'was my first reaction too, Catti-brie Do'Urden; but there are no weapons welcome here."

Blue eyes searched the boughs of the trees surrounding the small glade where she'd woken and fell on a shadowed figure sitting on one of the higher branches. The man's slight frame and stature declared him to be an elf - or very short and thin human - and one, she guessed by his appearance, who wouldn't have been much taller than her Drizzt.

"Few call me that correctly on the first try," she said in response, focusing on the fact that this stranger knew her name. "Who are you to say it so easily?"

"Someone who's been awaiting this meeting with both anticipation and dread; I had thought it to be many years in your future."

"What do you mean - and where's Drizzt?"

"A place you can no longer follow - or rather, you've passed to a place _he_ can not yet follow."

"I've passed..." the moments before she'd awoken in the grove came back to her and she _knew _with every fiber of her being what had happened. "I am dead."

It wasn't a question.

"As much as I," confirmed the figure, dropping through the branches to land lightly before her.

To her credit, Catti-brie only crossed her arms over her chest and arched an eyebrow, as if to ask if she should be impressed. The elf, for he was indeed an elf, had the same color skin as her husband; the same heritage.

Drow.

"Am I supposed to be impressed?" she asked mildly, noting that the elf looked vaguely familiar. Older than her husband by several centuries, and she was certain she'd never met him, but he looked familiar none-the-less. "Or perhaps run screaming? If you've been waiting to meet me, you know I've no fear of your race; that you called me by name shows you know I married one."

"Indeed," the stranger smirked. He was dressed similarly to her, except all in black, and he too was unarmed. "Drizzt chose well in taking you as his wife - I only wish I'd lived long enough to travel with him to the surface."

"To see the... who _are _you?"

With a courtly bow, the drow flashed her a smile she recognized instantly as a mirror to that of her husband and _knew _the answer the moment before he spoke. "Zaknafein Do'Urden, at your service."

Catti-brie's posture relaxed immediately and a smiled crossed her face. "Drizzt father."

"The same."

"You look good for someone who died in a pool of acid."

"I was dead long before that," he returned dryly. "The same could be said for you - daughter."

Catti-brie's hand went to her stomach, the pain of the spear that had sliced through her back and severed her spine already a distant and fading memory. The skin was unblemished and whole under her finger tips. Her last clear memory had been Drizzt's arms coming around her, begging her to hold on - not to leave him yet. But she hadn't been able to; her time had come. Her response was subdued. "'Tis true."

"He'll survive," Zaknafein assured her, correctly guessing the direction of her thoughts. "He always does."

"I know." The reality she found herself in - being dead - was still too much and just the thought of Drizzt's last pain-filled visage made her want to cry. Looking around, Catti-brie perused their surroundings and changed the subject. "What is this place?"

"It is known to those who pass through it as Mielikki's Grove." Zak said as he strode forward to join her in the center. "It's a place for those who wait for those not yet dead to join them."

"And ye've been waiting for Drizzt all this time?"

"And will continue to wait for many years;" he confirmed. "Of course, I've your company now to pass the time."

"For all the good it will do," Catti-brie returned. "He will live a good long time."

"Perhaps. Few drow die of old age and he has chosen a path that is dangerous; for all his skill, my son is not infallible or invincible."

"Though he'd like to think it."

Zaknafein chuckled. "I see he's not changed as much as I'd believed."

"And yet more than most can see," turning away, Catti-brie felt a pang at leaving her beloved ranger when he'd needed her most. "I shouldn't be here."

"Where else would you go to wait for him?"

"You misunderstand; I shouldn't be dead."

"Neither should I," was the gentle reminder. "We don't get to choose our time, Catti-brie."

"You did."

"To save Drizzt, yes - but had there been another way I would have taken it. It was not an easy choice to leave him alone in Malice's house. That he found the strength to leave where I did not has always been a point of pride with me."

"And with him." She sighed. "Is there nothing more to do here than speak with one another."

"Tiring of my company already?"

"No; but after centuries of sharing the same stories, don't you think we'd get a might bit tired?"

Zaknafein laughed, the rich sound slightly rusty. "Perhaps. Time does not pass for us the same as it will for him. Come; look."

Curious, Catti-brie followed Zaknafein to a shadowed section of the grove where a flat, crystalline pool shimmered with power.

"Mielikki's gift," he explained, crouching low.

Catti-brie joined him, mimicking his movements as he extended a hand over the edge of the pool but didn't touch it. Immediately the surface shifted and an image leapt into sharp focus. Catti-brie let out an anguished sound as Drizzt appeared; his shoulders were bowed by grief and he stood over _her _funeral pyre!

"Drizzt!"

Zaknafein's hand darted out to grab hers before she could touch the pool's surface, well understanding her desire, but also knowing he was here as much waiting for his son, as a guide for her. "You mustn't touch it."

"But..."

He shook his head and for a moment she could understand where her husband had come by his determination; there was no compromise in Zaknafein's expression. Her gaze quickly dropped back to the scene unfolding before her.

In silence, they watched the scene unfold, her adopted father, Bruenor Battlehammer, appearing in the scene to stand beside the elf as a torch was handed down the line. Drizzt accepted it, his expression as stoic as always, but for the lines of moisture tracing down his face. As they watched, he stepped forward into the rushes surrounding her body and dropped the torch at his feet.

The inferno was almost immediate, dry tinder catching the flames and racing around the less heavy of the bushels within moments. They licked at Catti-brie's body, and the sense of unease she felt watching the display intensified as heat seemed to sweep over her; there was something very unnerving about watching one's own funeral.

No sound accompanied the images but there was no mistaking the way Drizzt, who'd been through much, collapsed to his knees in the flames which didn't - couldn't - burn him thanks to one of the scimitars he carried, even now, on his hips. One hand splayed across her cheek, barely touching it, as the flames intensified - and he bent, his lips by her ear.

His voice resounded in her mind, as if he were beside her, choked by guilt and grief. _It should have been me, Cat._

It was the images his words evoked that made her freeze. The spear, thrown at Drizzt's back; the surety of her conviction he'd never be able to turn away in time - and her split second reaction. Knocking into him, driving him aside as the barbed tip tore through her back and out her stomach; pain radiating from the wound so intense she couldn't cry out even as her legs buckled, going numb beneath her.

Drizzt's strong arms catching her, his desperate demand to know why and his pleading with her to stay with him... and the peace she'd felt knowing he was safe. The feel of his face under her finger tips; the feel of his lips as he kissed her, his own touch insistent and desperate. She'd never seen him so desperate before... and then darkness...

_Goodbye, my love._

If she'd been able to breathe, that breath would have been knocked from her lungs with the sheer intensity of the grief behind of his words and Drizzt pulled back in the image to look down into her face. The feel of his lips brushing hers was a tangible thing as his image kissed her one last time before pushing himself unsteadily to his feet. Bruenor caught him as he stumbled out of the flames, the drow's characteristic grace gone under the weight of his grief and Catti-brie could watch no more. Turning away with a strangled cry, she frantically searched for a way to escape her reality but the trees and meadow offered no exit.

"Why show me this?" she demanded, rounding on Drizzt's father and keeping her gaze averted from the pool. "I canna... the thought..."

"I know." Pushing to his feet, the older drow regarded her sympathetically. "It's been three days since your death, Catti-brie."

"Impossible!"

"Not for a goddess."

"Goddess or not, I don't understand how three days have slipped by in the shot time I've been talking to you."

"Time flows differently here; faster or slower," explained Zaknafein patiently. "It has no more meaning than what we place on it."

"Is that how ye've kept from going crazy?"

"Days and years can pass in a heartbeat, or in the time they take mortals."

"I don't understand."

Zaknafein shrugged. "Neither do I; it is simply how things are."

"I'll no' be watchin' that pool if that is what I'm to feel... to see - Drizzt... I canna..."

"You will - in time," he corrected her softly, turning back towards his previous perch and striding towards it. "The pain doesn't last for nearly as long as you would think, Catti-brie Do'Urden. Your curiosity will draw you to watch, as mine did, for your pride in my son is no less than my own."

"And the grief of separation?"

"Passes in time," reaching up, Zak hauled himself to a low branch. "His will pass before yours."

"Drizzt loves me," she shot back hotly, "he won't move on so-"

"_He_," the cold edge of Zaknafein's voice sliced through her anger, "has to get on with the business of living. He'll miss you, mourn you, grieve for you - but he will continue to live, Catti-brie. It's either move forward or die with you. What would you have him do?"

Even before his last question, both of them knew her answer; but Catti-brie had needed to hear it asked. She no longer had tears to shed, though she truly wished she did, for she felt the need from the bottom of her toes. Yet, she couldn't... so she instead threw her head towards the sky and let out a cry that echoed through the grove.

With it went her frustration, her grief and denial; she had no choice but to accept that this was her fate and Drizzt's lay many years before him. He would carry on without her because he had no choice.

"That's what I thought."

_fin_


	3. Reunion

**Disclaimer:** It's Wizards of the Coast and R.A Salvatore's sandbox, I'm simply destroying the sandcastles

**Title:** Reunion

**Author:** Jade_Max

**Genre:** Drama

**Characters:** Catti-brie, Drizzt, Bruenor, Regis & Guenhwyvar

**Timeframe:** Set during "Silent Blade"

**Summary: ** Catti-brie, Bruenor, Regis & Guenhwyvar anxiously await Drizzt's return to them on Jarlaxle's word after having watched Artemis Entreri put his hand into the drow's chest...

**Reunion**

"Suren I shoulda put an arrow through that one's chest," Catti-brie told her adopted father, pacing back and forth just inside the village boundary, her movements jerky as she caressed the hilt of her sword. Even in her anger, she wouldn't break the oath Jarlaxle had made her swear - to wait within the village until morning before coming looking for Drizzt. Only the possibility of never seeing him again stayed her course - and the miniscule hope she would. "Or better yet, put me sword to good use!"

"Jarlaxle promised-"

"I don't care what he promised," the woman spat, rounding on the Halfling, her eyes suspiciously wet and shimmering. "Ye saw... we all saw... I'm not fer knowin' how that elf talked me to coming back here without Drizzt!"

"Easy girl," Bruenor told her, an unexpected source of reason.

He'd seen her through the death of Wulfgar and seen the expression on her face as he'd turned from the tower's mirror to descend to the ground to get a better angle on the tower for a swing of his axe - and while he hadn't registered it at the time, he well remembered it now. Whatever had passed between his closest friend and his adopted daughter over the last seven years had healed the wound Wulfgar's absence had left. The look on her face as Drizzt had fallen had echoed that pain and more.

"That elf is no Drizzt, but he's a code of honor by yer own word; he'd not bid us wait fer nothin'."

"Then I was wrong!"

Turning, Catti-brie stalked several yards away and swiped her hand across her cheek as she found refuge in her anger. The pain within was too new, too raw - too reminiscent of what she'd lost before - but she couldn't embrace it yet; anger shielded her from the reality of her feelings even as it did nothing to prevent the replay in her mind.

_Entreri's hand sinking into Drizzt's chest, blood welling around the wound and through his lips... the blood... so much...his life pouring out around that hand... his only comfort in death Entreri, not Catti-brie... the blood pooling around his still form... pouring... ebbing... dripping... so much blood..._

It was as if Entreri's hand had sunk into her own chest, stopping her heart as surely as he'd stopped that of the Ranger she'd come to love... and realized the truth of it too late.

Shaking her head, she ground the heels of her hands into her eyes as Regis and Bruenor exchanged looks. Regis snuffled, wiping at his nose and even the tough dwarf's eyes were red rimmed with memory. Drizzt was lost to them, killed at Entreri's hands... but Jarlaxle had promised to return their friend to them and it was to that hope they clung. They had to, _needed _to; none of them could accept that the indomitable drow who'd lived through so much could die at the hands of Entreri from betrayal.

Guenhwyvar bumped against Catti-brie's leg, offering what little comfort she could, and the woman dropped her hands before going to her knees to enfold the panther in a tight hug. Burying her face in Guenhwyvar's fur, the tears she hadn't been willing to show openly to her father or Regis, began to flow.

The great cat nuzzled her, seeking comfort of her own even as she gave it, green eyes sad even as she kept watch on the road, understanding that if her master were to somehow reappear whole and hale, it would be from that direction. Movement down the road caught her keen eye and she stiffened in Catti-brie's grip, rumbling low in her chest as the form on the road began to take shape.

Catti-brie's head came up and she swiped her eyes, following the direction of Guenhwyvar's gaze. But the cat's eyes were far better than hers. "What do ye see, Guen?"

A rumble in Guenhwyvar's chest was her answer, and Catti-brie squinted into the distance to no avail; nothing but a lone figure slowly making its way down the road. Her bow came off her back, she was too seasoned a warrior for it not to, and she pulled an arrow from the quiver as she rose to her feet, taking a step for balance.

"Trouble?"

With a shrug to Bruenor and a nod to Guenhwyvar, Catti-brie kept her gaze focused on the figure. The cat suddenly let out an excited roar, bounding off down the road in great leaps and making a bee line for the figure. It was the manner of dress coupled with the cat's excitement that had Catti-brie doubting her senses after what she'd seen.

_Drizzt? _

Could it be? Had Jarlaxle's band been able to mend such a horrid wound, to save him from the brink? _Impossible_, she chided herself, even as hope surged anew in her breast with every bound of Guenhwyvar's form. She'd seen the damage Entreri had done; not even the ranger could come back from that - could he?

But there was no doubting the identity of the distant individual as it went down under the form of the panther, her posture playful - even from a distance.

"Drizzt?" Regis echoed her thoughts, his eyes keener than hers and let out an excited yell, darting off after Guenhwyvar far swifter than his friends would have credited him capable of. "Drizzt! You're alive! You're _alive!_"

_Alive. _

_Drizzt's alive._

The bow in Catti-brie's hands wavered, falling from nerveless fingers as her knees gave out, tears of relief pooling in her eyes, a sob sticking in her throat. The pain that had engulfed her resounded within her soul for several long moments, absorbing her as those last terrible moments she'd seen him continued to assault her - and were only now refuted by the new evidence of her senses. Closing her eyes, she sent a soft prayer of thanks to Mielikki for watching over him.

Bruenor was hot on the Halfling's heels, the laughter of his dearest friend music to the old dwarf's ears as Drizzt struggled under the weight of both panther and Halfling, hugging them both from his prone position, flat on his back. Bruenor, knowing he couldn't hurt the cat, bowled Guenhwyvar off the drow only to take her place as soon as Drizzt was able to push himself to his knees.

"Me friend!"

"Bruenor."

"I thought ye was finished, elf," the dwarf told his friend roughly, squeezing him in a tight hug that stole what little breath Drizzt had been able to grab, his bulbous nose as suspiciously red as his eyes were shiny. "Me girl was ready to take down the tower, those cursed drow and Entreri to get to ye; and the rest o' us with her!"

"No one could ask for better friends."

"Bah," Bruenor eased back and hauled Drizzt to his feet before slapping him hard on the back and making the slight elf stumble. "We'd never o' left if that fancy elf hadn't given us 'is promise we'd be seein' ye again."

"Then my return isn't much of a surprise." The drow hugged Regis as the Halfling lunged at him again, holding on as tight as his stubby arms could. "Is that it?"

There was silence for a long minute and Guenhwyvar was the one to break it with a growl and a shake of her head, bumping roughly into Drizzt's other side and making him stumble once more. "Is that a no, Guen?"

The panther growled again, this time looking back towards the village.

Drizzt followed her gaze to the last of his companions - and stared. Catti-brie's tear streaked face was visible even from this distance as she stared at him from the position in which she'd fallen. Tumaril lay, seemingly forgotten, at her side, her hands flat against the earth before her, her legs slightly splayed in her kneeling position.

"Bruenor-"

"Me girl took it hard, elf; harder than Rumblebelly or meself... which is sayin' a lot." That gruff admission was as sentimental as the dwarf was going to allow. "Best be gettin' to her side or she'll start disbelievin'' her eyes."

Regis reluctantly released the drow and Guenhwyvar padded back towards Catti-brie at Drizzt's side as he walked the last couple hundred yards. Their gazes locked, assessing each other as he traveled the last of the distance. What he read in her eyes was enough to make him falter in his stride, slowing those last steps before stopping before her. Her gaze dropped to his chest, focused and intent.

Crouching as she seemed in no hurry to get to her feet, Drizzt searched her expression at a closer distance - and Catti-brie's hands shot out to jerk at his tattered tunic. The weakened fabric parted with a loud tearing sound even as his fingers closed about her wrists, stopping her frantic pawing. Unblemished ebony skin, without a hint of the blood it had so recently been stained, shone with the unmistakable sheen of health and vitality. The defined musculature of his chest seemed to entrance her as she searched for signs of his wounds, her expression slightly frantic as if she couldn't credit any of her senses.

"I'm here, Cat; flesh and blood."

His soft assurance drew her eyes back to his, tears still streaking down her cheeks.

"'Tis no trick? No ploy?"

Drizzt was given no time to respond as she lunged for him, breaking his hold on her wrists as her arms encircled his neck. Knocking him back on his heels and almost prone, it was Guenhwyvar's presence behind them that prevented the spill. Drizzt shifted, accepting the weight of her without question as his arms encircled her back and he found his balance, pulled her close. One knee hit the ground, his other leg sliding along the outside of her torso even as she surged to her knees. Moisture continued to flow against his neck and had him turning his head to press his face into the fall of her hair as he tightened his hold on her. His words were almost lost in the mass near her ear.

"I'm alright; it was a dream."

She laughed, to his relief, even thought it was choked. "A bad dream."

"A nightmare," he agreed, running his hand over her hair. "A terrible nightmare of what would have been - but what isn't."

One of her hands twisted in his white locks, her finger tips touching the column of his throat and around to where his heart beat. Strong and steady as ever, she shuddered in his grasp and admitted silently to herself that - at some point in the last seven years - she'd fallen in love with him. _More_ in love with him, which didn't seem possible. The emotion was raw, too new to bear speaking, but watching him die, and being powerless to stop it, had been a moment of profound revelation that she readily - if silently - admitted too now. His strong heart beat, as strong as the arms that held her so tightly, reassured her that this was no trick.

"It's over."

Her grip tightened as he tried to reassure her again, and Drizzt inwardly winced; the abused muscles of his freshly healed wounds still tender in some aspects, but not a complaint passed his lips. To have Catti-brie in his arms for these moments were something he'd honestly believed to have been beyond him once more. Here, in her embrace - as desperate as it was - he felt whole once again.

Balanced.

"It'll never be over," she corrected him, her voice muffled by his shirt and hair, "there will always be another."

Squeezing her, he gently began to disentangle her from his arms as he heard the footsteps of Bruenor and Regis approaching. "Perhaps; but would you have it any other way?"

Would she? Would she prefer a life of safety and security, knowing they were beyond harm's reach compared to the excitement of what they faced daily? The challenges, the gains despite the risks... each day was an adventure and one she'd walked willingly, knowing she'd never be satisfied with home and hearth the way some women were bound to be.

Lifting herself from his arms, a genuine smile found it way onto her face - small, but genuine. "Never. Just... no more dyin' on me fer awhile. Me heart can't take it."

Brushing her hair back, Drizzt gently ran his thumbs over his cheeks to brush away her tears and shared in her smile. "I won't if you won't."

"Yer stuck with me for a while yet," she assured him, pushing back to settle on her heels as Bruenor and Regis joined them, Guenhwyvar having nudged her massive head under Drizzt's arm on his thigh for a reassuring scratch. "With all o' us, right Da?"

Bruenor looked at her, to the drow and back, weighing the dangers of agreeing with her without having heard exactly what he was agreeing with, but the sparkle in her eyes assured him and he slapped Drizzt on the shoulder once. "Right you are, me girl. Rumblebelly; grab the elf's pack. I'm thinkin' he'll be wantin' his change o' clothes."

Not looking at his dwarven friend, Drizzt's gaze remained locked with Catti-brie's and she folded her hand over his squeezing briefly before letting go. Stooping to collect her bow and discarded arrow, she flashed him a smile as she pushed to her feet.

"Get yerself decent, me friend," she told him with a wink. "Ye've enough of a reputation without adding _that_ to it."

Her step was lighter as she turned to walk away, Drizzt's low chuckle making her heart soar. Now wasn't the time to explore the newly understood feelings, she knew, but soon the time would come and a part of her couldn't help but wonder what differences she'd find from the relationship she'd had with Wulfgar.

_That_ was an adventure worth looking forward to.

_fin_


	4. The Dance

**Disclaimer:** It's Wizards of the Coast and R.A Salvatore's sandbox, I'm simply destroying the sandcastles

**Title:** The Dance

**Author:** Jade_Max

**Genre:** Drama/Romance

**Timeframe:** Pre-Wulfgar's return; Catti-brie and Drizzt are still part of the _Sea Sprite_ crew

**Summary: ** Three years after Wulfgar's death, Catti-brie has come to terms with the fact he's gone for good...

**Note: **Inspired by Catti-brie's comment in the last of the Hunter blade's trilogy when she'd spoken with Wulfgar about how she and Drizzt never became lovers - but they came close.

**The Dance**

"Yer friend doesna ever dance; can he not?"

Catti-brie grinned up at the sailor as he whirled her around the campfire on the beach. "He's a touch shy," she returned with a laugh, struggling to catch her breath. "Can't abide dancin' in front o' so many."

The gaff she received in response was accompanied by a spin that sent her into the arms of another sailor. Today was a celebration of the third year they'd been on the _Sea Sprite_ and they were in calm waters, anchored off an island that had provided the feast currently roasting over the spit as the other sailors supplied the music. Even Robilliard, the dour mage who normally shunned such excitements, was present on the fringes. Magical cantrips kept the area lit and dancing lights - courtesy of Drizzt Do'Urden's drow heritage - added to the festive feel.

Round and round the sailors twirled her until Catti-brie's sense of direction was so skewed she couldn't have told them which way the ocean lay, her delighted laughter ringing out among the sailors with an abandon she hadn't felt in a long time. The last years had forced her to grow, but also to accept things that could not be changed.

Wulfgar was lost to her; in the beginning of their adventure that pain had been her focus, but over the years she'd come to accept that he was gone. She'd mended - slowly - maturing into the woman she was now. Despite that - or perhaps because of it - tonight was her own rite of passage. While thoughts of the barbarian would always be bittersweet, she was no longer crippled by grief; no longer heart-locked to a dead man.

Her laughter was lighter this night, lighter than it had been since Wulfgar's death, and she knew her companions felt the difference. Even without knowing which way the ocean lay, her sight spinning, Catti-brie could feel the lavender gaze of her closest and dearest friend upon her - and could have walked unerringly to stand before him. That gaze of his was compelling, ever watchful, and she knew he could feel the difference in her tonight. That she _felt_ lighter came across in so many ways; she stood straighter, laughed easier, smiled continuously, flirted good naturedly with the sailors... and she danced.

Danced as she had never before danced, enjoying the feel of the soft sea breeze as it cooled her heated skin, the play of the sand between her bare toes and the energy of the night. Tonight was a night of exploration; of delight.

Spun once more, she lost her balance and careened drunkenly to the side with the laugh, tripping on the grains and sliding towards the earth - only to be caught at the last second by a pair of wiry arms a bare hand-span before she would have struck the sand face first. Righted immediately, she grasped Drizzt's shoulders to calm the rolling motions about her.

"Me thanks."

Drizzt's eyes were her point of focus as the world around her started to refocus, and they crinkled as he smiled but that smile didn't quite make it into his gaze. "You'd do the same for me."

Something in his tone caught and held her attention, the sounds of the instruments fading into the background as the other sailors backed off to give her and the drow some space. It had been established early on in their days with the _Sea Sprite_ that they were together, even if they really weren't, and none of the sailors were willing to intrude on such a moment. None would be willing to face the drow's wrath; or hers.

Her blood settled, the focus she normally held returning, and Catti-brie's smile faded as she took in the way he wasn't _quite_ meeting her gaze despite looking at her. "What is it?"

Without looking, she knew the gaze he darted over her shoulder was at the rest of their crew.

Turning the wattage on her smile up, she cast a look over her shoulder as she took Drizzt's hand and winked at the other sailors. "Iffen ye can spare us, boys, me n' Drizzt have unfinished business."

Catcalls and whistles followed them as she dragged Drizzt away, turning the headland after several minutes of walking, before rounding on him. The music around the campfire was faint in the distance and none of the sentries would see them here. Despite the moon and the stars, they were well hidden. Turning back to Drizzt, Catti-brie didn't drop his hand.

"Drizzt?"

He wasn't looking at her. Instead, his gaze was out across the ocean, shielded by the fall of his hair.

Miffed, her good mood ebbing, she pulled on his hand. "Ye can't be ignoring me," she told him tartly. "Me good mood won't up and go because ye are dour."

"I'm not dour."

"Ye are - ever since I started dancing tonight; and don't try to deny it."

Drizzt knew better than to argue with her; she was far too perceptive - too able to see past the walls of stoicism he'd erected to protect himself. Not that it mattered. Without saying a word and with little more than a glance, Catti-brie seemed to understand just why tonight affected him so much.

"Ye can dance with me if ye want."

He pulled his hand free, letting it fall over the hilt of one scimitar. "I wouldn't presume to impose."

"'Tis no imposition."

"I'm not of the same opinion."

Crossing her arms over her chest, Catti-brie regarded her companion thoughtfully, assessing him with a quiet perusal that always had the power to unnerve the strongest and most stout hearted of their group; Catti-brie could always see things no others could no matter how well hidden. It was that regard which made Drizzt shift uncomfortably, unwilling to meet her gaze.

She snorted softly. "Of course yer not; what's today, Drizzt Do'Urden?"

The answer hung between them; _the anniversary of Wulfgar's death_.

His gaze finally lifted to hers, and he was caught by the smile playing across her lips.

"Do ye see sorrow?"

"No."

"Anguish?"

He shook his head.

"Anything that might'en be akin to them?"

Caught, for there were no shadows filling her eyes or smile this night, he shook his head once more. "I do not."

"Then... might ye be thinking 'tis no imposition?"

"As you say."

Regarding him shrewdly, Catti-bne tilted her head and smiled faintly. "'Tis an imposition on ye, is that it? Ye can dance; I've seen ye."

"Alone."

"Yer always alone," but, even as she said it, she understood his meaning. Drizzt had never danced with anyone because there had been no one to dance with. "But not tonight. Dance with me."

"Catti-brie-"

"There's no one here but meself and ye be knowin' I won't laugh at ye," defeating his objection before it was fully voiced, she extended her hand. "Dance with me."

"I don't think-"

"Ye think too much; dance with me."

Her gentle scolding had the effect she desired, and Drizzt reluctantly stepped closer, glancing apprehensively back towards the fire where they'd left their crew. Catti-brie gently turned his face back her way with one hand as she placed the other on his shoulder.

"Eyes forward; ye'll do fine."

There was no censure in her gaze, no hint of condemnation as he took a hesitant step in the fashion the sailors had been doing earlier. With whispered words and a gentle touch, Catti-brie guided him into the first steps of one of the two formal dances she knew. They were standing too close, but she didn't care; life was always better the closer he was to her - she simply didn't wish or want to examine why.

They stumbled together as Drizzt attempted to take the lead and stepped with the wrong foot first, making them both laugh as it resulted in an unintentional dip and weave to bring them back into balance. Catti-brie spun slightly away before Drizzt improvised to bring her back close. This time, he grinned and led her off on the right foot before drawing them both around in a large circle.

"See? 'Tis not so hard is it?"

"I have an excellent teacher."

"Fair's fair; ye teach me to fight, I'll teach ye to dance." Her blue eyes fairly sparkled as he responded to the claim by lifting his arm and pressing her into a spin. "Is not so different as wielding a blade, is it?"

The _look_ he sent her was full of disbelief and made her laugh. "The footwork, me friend."

"Perhaps," he conceded. "Though the weapon wielded isn't quite as responsive."

Shocked by his claim, Catti-brie's feet stopped moving until the tell tale glimmer of his tease shone from his eyes. "Yer terrible!" Swatting at him, she retook her position and Drizzt led her back into the flow she'd momentarily disrupted. "I woulda thought ye could _appreciate_ such a fine weapon in your hands; 'tis not every day ye have the chance to wield such craftsmanship."

Understanding the taunt for what it was, they shared a look and a laugh before Drizzt sent her into a series of spins - each one faster than the last - that left her breathless and disoriented. Drizzt however was a fast learner and, unlike the sailor who'd let her falter before, stopped the turns by pulling her closer. Far closer than before, and moving them back into the steps of the dance; his only concession was that he moved slowly to accommodate her sudden handicap.

Their new position, with Catti-brie now wrapped firmly in his strong embrace and almost flush against him, was purely born out of consideration for her loss of equilibrium but brought with it its own set of problems; she fit snugly between the hilts of his blades, their pommels on either side of her trim waist and impeding them not at all. The chivalrous drow did his best to ignore how _good_ - how _right - _it felt to have her in his embrace and instead tried to distract them both while drawing her with him. His sense of fairness wouldn't allow him to release her while she was unsteady on her feet.

"Where'd you learn to dance?"

"Would ye believe me iffen I said Bruenor?"

"Will you blame me if I said no?"

Her laughter was soft. "Not in the least - it shows yer good sense!"

"And still doesn't answer my question."

"Ye wouldn't believe me."

The look he sent her said otherwise and a surprising blush flooded her face. "Do... ye remember when we thought Bruenor dead; killed with the dragon in Mithral Hall?"

Drizzt's nod was all that was necessary.

"Do ye also remember leavin' me behind so Wulfgar and ye could chase Regis... and meself could avenge me Da?"

"I do."

Catti-brie smiled almost sheepishly. "While waitin' for the clan, Harkle and the Harpells decided I needed some lessons on how to be human since meself was already knowin' on how to be a dwarf."

Pulling them both up short, Drizzt searched her gaze as his hands dropped slowly away from her but quickly moved back, cupping her face. "You've no need to change, Cat. Everything about you is unique; never change for someone else."

"I didn't think to," she retorted, but there was no heat in her words. "But I'm also fer knowin' that the more we know, the more we grow - even if the lesson isn't an easy one. Ye taught me that."

"So you learned to dance." His thumbs brushed over her cheeks and this time when he smiled, she could see it clear to his eyes. "And you decided to teach me."

"And richer for the sharin' - right?"

"Thank you."

Leaning forward, his lips replaced the pad of his thumb on one gentle swell - but Catti-brie's head turned, catching his lips with her own. It wasn't deliberate, but rather an instinctive turn of her head towards the palm that cupped it. His eyes widened, as did hers - and neither moved.

The balance point had been reached and crossed and in that split second of awareness, things shifted between them. Within a heartbeat, the kiss went from accidental to deliberate; Drizzt's hands slid into her hair even as hers slid up his forearms and then down around his waist.

Flush against one another, Catti-brie's heart pounded against his as their eyes closed. She kissed him passionately, as passionately as she'd ever kissed Wulfgar; perhaps more. Whatever she was feeling was amplified in that moment by the knowledge that he wouldn't take advantage - and all she had to do was ask...

Images sprang quickly to mind, flashing through her imagination with startling ghost-like sensation and clarity; ebony and pale limbs entwined in a passionate, intimate embrace. Lavender eyes burning with the familiar fires of excitement and passion - only now directed solely at her; the feel of his dexterous hands sliding down her writhing, naked body. _Her_ hands sliding across the dark ridges and planes of _his_ naked torso... and more...

A moan escaped her lips as she shifted sinuously against him, but the _sound_ hung in the silence between them as Drizzt tore his lips from hers. His breathing was heavier than normal, as was hers, and the image in her mind of burning lavender eyes was reality as hers fluttered open. Slowly, they seemed to orient themselves to their surroundings, almost clinging to one another for support as reality returned.

They shared a silent look, the kiss hanging between them for a long moment, as if searching to see what the other would do. To retreat - or to take another step beyond the borders of the friendship they'd built... a friendship solidly and profoundly built on mutual respect and love.

But the night wasn't right; the time too soon after the freedoms they'd earned... and Drizzt pulled back, reaching up to break her hold on him before stepping away. No matter that there were no shadows for Wulfgar in her eyes - or his - these new and unexplored feelings between them were something neither were ready to face just yet. The grief was too newly healed; they simply wanted to live without entanglements for the moment.

Catti-brie exhaled softly and nodded back the way they'd come. "We should be gettin' back."

Drizzt's response was to take a step in the right direction - but even as he did so, his dark fingers curled around hers and squeezed. Their eyes met once more, speaking the words that neither of them were ready to hear, and neither were ready to say. He offered a smile, one she returned even as she sent a silent thanks heavenward.

No matter what the future brought, he was, and always would remain, her friend first.

_fin_


	5. Coming of Age

**Disclaimer:** It's Wizards of the Coast and R.A Salvatore's sandbox, I'm simply destroying the sandcastles

**Title:** Coming of Age

**Author:** Jade_Max

**Genre:** Romance/Mush

**Characters:** Drizzt & Catti-brie

**Timeframe:** Icewind Dale Trilogy - AU (several weeks before Wulfgar's release from the Dwarves)

**Summary: **Drizzt has missed Catti-brie's birthday and failed to bring her a gift. What will she ask for?

**Coming of Age**

Bruenor's climb was one of Catti-brie's favorite places in all of Icewind Dale, if not only for the view, than for the company she was sure to find there on any night. Tonight, she knew as she settled onto the outcropping her adoptive father Bruenor loved so much, would be no different. It was the reason she found herself looking across the dale even now, the cold winter winds teasing her exposed skin with hints of snow.

There was no warning, no whisper of sound to announce the change from solitude to company, no indications beyond the feeling, the _knowledge_ that she was being watched coupled with the shiver that slid down her spine. A feeling that had become more and more prominent the more time she spent with her friend - and more confusing. Without turning, her gaze on the tundra, she addressed her silent shadows at her back.

"Are ye plannin' tae join me, or just tae sit and skulk all night?"

A shift of the air beside her was the only indication of movement as the shadow behind her materialized into a slender, cloaked figure. It didn't sit. "I wasn't sure you'd want my company."

"After ye went and missed me day? Now why would ye think that?"

Lavender orbs twitched in a wince, hearing the bite behind her words and the pain; today had been her sixteenth birthday and he'd missed it. "The day is not over yet; the sun isn't yet set, nor the moon risen."

Rounding on him, her blue eyes spitting fire, Catti-brie leveled an icy glare his way. "For all the good it does! The day is gone and ye... ye were nowhere to be found."

"Was my absence so marked?"

A harsh laugh escaped her lips and she irritably brushed tears away. She'd been hoping he'd attend the party thrown by the dwarves - he'd been invited by he adopted father, Bruenor - but, for all she'd watched for him, the day had waned and he hadn't come.

"Ye claim tae be me best friend, Drizzt Do'Urden, and ye missed me birthday!"

Which was the crux of the matter; of all the people she'd wanted to celebrate with, the Drow hadn't made an appearance. She turned away to stare at the glow of the sun, disappearing on the far horizon. Pulling her knees up, she wrapped her arms about them, and stared at the dying aura, waiting for him to offer his excuses, to find some event that was more important as a reason for his absence; to try and make her feel better.

To his credit, he didn't offer excuses; he didn't even try. "I'm here now."

Silence, strained and tense, descended between them - a marked difference from other nights, and Drizzt was at a loss for how to break it. The rigid line of Catti-brie's spine indicated her temper, and today's slight wasn't one she'd likely soon forgive. No matter how mature she became, there were some ways in which she was fundamentally human - and Bruenor had told her that sixteen for a human was a right of passage; a big step beyond being a child and into adulthood. Not unlike his own sixteenth year, when he'd become a full member of the family and no longer a page prince. He shied away from a memory, but the reality lingered. Along with the guilt.

Drizzt should have been there.

Easing closer, Drizzt slid onto the rock shelf next to her until his shoulder brushed hers. "The day's not yet finished," he tried softly, "we can do whatever you wish."

A choked sound emerged from her lips and she turned sparkling, guarded eyes to his. "Whatever I... are ye sure?"

He nodded, spreading his arms wide as he spun off the rock and dipped into a low, flourish of a bow. "Anything, Princess Battlehammer. If it is in my power to give or do, you've but to name it."

"Anything," she cocked her head, lying it flat along her knees as she regarded him. "The head of a dragon, mayhap?"

"Within reason," he amended with a grin, knowing she was being facetious. It was a good sign her irritation was ebbing.

"A kiss, then."

Drizzt froze at her soft and immediate response, his smile fading as he stared into her eyes. "What?"

"A kiss," she lifted her head then, examining his expression with a shrewdness that belied her years. "Surely ye aren't afraid o' a little kiss."

"No; but Bruenor would have my ears."

"Me da isn't here." Uncurling from her position, she turned to face him completely, stretching her legs out over the rock as she did and unconsciously drawing his gaze. Sometime, somehow in the time since he'd last seen her - well over two months ago thanks to winter storms - she'd gone from being a child and bloomed into womanhood. "'Tis just me and you - and yer promise."

"I said within reason."

"Ye said anything that was in your power to give."

Caught, Drizzt stared at her, examining her in silence as if he'd never seen her before. Weighing her words, it seemed, against their friendship; judging her.

"'Tis not an extraordinary request," she finally bit out in irritation, pushing to her feet. "If ye won't give me a kiss, simply say so and be gone. I came up here for peace, and with yerself here I'm finding none!"

"You don't know what you ask."

"You don't know what ye refuse." Spinning from him, she clenched her fists at her side and looked back to where the sky had was fading to the various colors of blue that preceded night fall. "Go then, me friend; leave me be!"

"I can't."

"'Tis easy," she snapped back, feeling the shame of her request bow her shoulders.

Whatever had possessed her this night to demand such a boon, she didn't know - only that a part of her had recently begun to wonder what it would be like to be kissed, as she'd seen other kissed. Her desire to experience her _first_ kiss with Drizzt seemed as natural as the stone beneath her feet... except he didn't think of her like that. She should have known better. Unconsciously wrapping her arms about herself, Catti-brie didn't so much as look the drow's way.

"Simply put one o' yer silent feet in front o' the other and disappear."

"You'd never forgive me."

"There's naught to forgive; ye've done nothing."

"Then I'd never forgive myself for leaving you like this." His strong, slender fingers closed about her upper arm, drawing her reluctantly back around. "It is not the request I envisioned from you when I made my offer of a gift."

"'Tis the only gift I want from ye," she shot back. "Me first kiss could be easily stolen by some rogue; who better to gift it to than ye?"

"Wulfgar?"

She laughed, the sound slight choked. "A finer _man_ I've not seen, but 'tis ye in me dreams; Drizzt, not Wulfgar."

"A kiss," he repeated her earlier request, his thumb brushing across the thick fur covering her arm even as he avoided her soft declaration. It wasn't something either of them were fully ready to explore, Drizzt far less than she. "The consequences could be grave."

"Or the gains great." Searching his lavender gaze, she wondered if he was truly considering it and half-stepped towards him. "I wish a kiss for me birthday; 'naught more. No promises, no vows; a simple kiss."

"There's nothing simple about a kiss between friends, Catti-brie."

"Will ye treat me different?"

"Possibly." He smiled faintly. "You're a beautiful woman, but a young one, and I-"

"No younger than any other woman," she interjected quickly, dismissing the age gap between them with an irritated toss of her head. "Iffen I was livin' among the town folk, I'd be married with a babe o' me own by now."

Which was true, he knew; in Icewind Dale folks married young - the women younger than the men - and started families as soon as they could. That Catti-brie had reached sixteen without suitors seemed ridiculous, but Drizzt well knew Bruenor had been a strong deterrent. Catti-brie had no visitors Bruenor didn't approve of - and young men, aside from the Barbarian the dwarf held captive, were not invited to the mines. Drizzt knew he was an exception; but then, his friend had never considered that his adopted daughter would harbor romantic feelings for the Drow outcast.

Despite all of this, he was unwilling to give her what she asked without ensuring she knew what _exactly_ she asked for. "Some day you may wish you'd saved that kiss if I accept it so selfishly now."

"Never," she caught his face in her hands, surprising them both, but was determined he see the measure of his worth in her eyes. "Me regret will be that it t'was not ye."

"And if one is not enough? If I become so enchanted by Catti-brie's kiss that I do not wish to share her with another? What then?"

Her eyes widened; he'd delivered it as a soft tease, but she could read the truth behind his words. She could see it in his eyes that he was serious, despite his tone. Lips parting to reply, she was amazed to find no sound come out; belong to Drizzt? Sixteen though she was, she possessed a wisdom beyond her years and she couldn't deny the thrill the idea gave her. The drow was a passionate friend, how much better would they be together as more?

"Then - mayhap - I will be enchanted by Drizzt's kiss - and not wish tae share _him_ with any other."

"One can hope." He cracked a faint smile, drawing her a fraction closer with the admission. "Do you still wish it?"

"It's me birthday," she informed him softly, her gaze dropping to his lips. "Me wish is tae give a gift to ye."

"And gain one in return."

Shaking her head, she looked back into his eyes. "'Tis not your first kiss; the gift is mine to give, not yours."

"You sound so certain."

"Ye've already lived a long time, surely there's been someone-"

"No one; until now."

Understanding the magnitude of what she asked, Catti-brie's resolution wavered. She'd thought, though he spoke of no women, Drizzt to be world wise when it came to them. And, indeed he was, she conceded, but not in the ways she thought. "Forgive me," she murmured, starting to turn away, "I didn't know... ye never said... I-"

His hand cupper her face, cutting her off, and firmly - but gently - turned it back towards his. "As you say; it is a gift."

Her eyes widened as his lips settled softly over hers. With little more than a tilt of her head, their mouths sealed together and her eyes fluttered close. It was a chaste kiss, no more than a hesitant melding of partially parted flesh, but it was felt clear to her toes as Drizzt wrapped her in his arms and pulled her closer.

It was over too soon, thought he seemed as reluctant to part from it as she, brushing his lips against hers a second and then a third before pulling back completely.

Her arms, she discovered as he pulled away, had found their way around his waist. Easing her hold somewhat reluctantly, the very reality Drizzt had voiced imparted itself in her mind and she wondered then and there if she'd ever want anyone else to kiss her. Hesitant as it had been, as if he'd been afraid to frighten her, she couldn't help but wonder if he'd kiss her differently the next time.

In spite of the shadow that crossed her mind with the thought of there not _being_ a next time, a wondrous smile curved her lips and she lifted her finger tips to touch them. They tingled - and not from the cold. The gift she'd given, and the one she'd received, were beyond price; ones she was glad to share with her best of friends no matter where life led them now.

The drow gently brushed a lock of breeze blown hair from her face with his fingertips, hooking it over one ear with an echoing smile.

"Happy Birthday, Catti-brie."

_fin_


End file.
